Forever After
by Juliette Taylor
Summary: Kim Connweller had always looked at Jared Cameron as her Prince Charming even though he does not notice her, after his mysterious disappearance for four weeks and then suddenly reappearance, Kim is ready to go unnoticed by him, but a beautiful plot twist leaves Kim stunned, how will she react to sudden attention by none other than her Prince Charming? Watch their love story unfold!
1. Started out

**Chapter 1**

I walked into the filled halls of our school, not really minding where I was going. I had my first class Trigonometry, first and only class without Jared Cameron. Well, it doesn't really matter, Jared had not shown up at the school since past 4 weeks, even Paul Lahote was out of the school since 2 weeks, rumours had it that they were with Sam in some kind of cult. Some even went as far as saying that they were doing drugs – but I knew my Jared better than that, he would never do something like that. I sighed dreamily as I continued walking to – yeah I remember now, I was going to my locker to meet my friend Lily. She was well aware of my crush (or which she called obsession) on Jared. She had tried to comfort me when Jared was not in the school and I had to sit alone in rest of my classes.

My mother had forced me into getting a new haircut, last afternoon, as if it would make some difference. I had got my hair cut into side swept bangs, the best features of my body were my soft, glossy, easy to tame, long hair, although I always left them open so in times of embarrassing situation, they could act as a curtain and be my saviour. Then next best feature was my skin, although I wished to be paler, but I loved how my skin was clean and oil free, softer than anyone I knew. People in our high school were not really aware of my presence and I liked to keep it that way, popular people were either hot or rich, I was none and definitely not the first. I was good at both sports and studies but that was all I was, good at things never excellent at anything.

I hadn't realized I had reached my locker when Lily pulled me by my arm and dragged me to one side of the hall. My heart sped up for a second and then it settled down, "Oh my god Kim! You are never going to believe what I saw!" she squealed. Honestly, ever since Jared was out of school none of what Lily said bothered me, "What did you saw?" I asked trying to sound enthusiastic but failing miserably, Lily frowned but then the next second she whisper shouted "Jared Cameron." His name alone made my heart do summersaults, the heat raised up to my cheeks and I knew I was blushing. "Are you making fun of me?" I suddenly asked, trying to reason with myself, how come Jared was in school? "No! See" she pointed to the left end of the hall, I looked at where she pointed and saw two guys standing there, talking frantically to each other, it only took a fraction of second to realize that it was indeed Jared, he had just changed too much in past four weeks. He definitely went to the saloon and got a haircut because his beautiful locks were cut into a cropped cut, and he had definitely hit the gym. I could see long and rounded muscles, it was ridiculous to be so – hot!

Just by looking at him, a huge grin was plastered on my face, and my heart was doing summersaults again. I did not even bother to look at the other guy, Jared Cameron had my whole attention "Kim!" Lily shook me and broke me out of my trance, I felt my ears and face getting hot again as I looked at Lily. "Oh my god, he is back" I breathed, it looked like I was saying this more to myself. "Wait a minute, you got a new haircut too!" Lily noticed, making me blush deeper, "You look beautiful!" she squealed, "Stop" I chuckled, "He is coming here!" Lily announced and I saw Jared walking down the hall, looking at his feet. Like the coward I was, I quickly opened my locker and hid my face inside it, waiting for Jared to pass. As soon as he passed behind me, I closed my locker again and went into limp as I stood my locker's support to keep myself on my feet and sighed dreamily.

Trig was more boring than ever! But it also kept me anxious, next class was history and I was going to sit next to Jared Hot Cameron! How am I going to keep my eyes to myself? Should I say 'Hi' to him? Maybe ask where he had been? But that would sound like I was being nosy? What if he talks to me first? Well that was never going to happen, why would Jared talk to me when he have never even noticed me in the very first place? I sighed and dropped my head on the table, it hurt a bit because my head banged on the table harder than I intended it to. Lily chuckled, she was sitting beside me, I turned my head to her direction to see her, and she was looking straight ahead and had covered her mouth, trying very hard not to laugh. I stomped on her feet with my leg and that made her quite. I looked down again and sighed, just when Mrs. Cope's voice disturbed me "Ms. Connweller are you okay?"

My head shot up instantly and I nodded frantically, most of the class giggled at me, Mrs. Cope narrowed her eyes at me and then turned to the board, "I swear, she totally loathes me" I whispered to Lily, "She loathes everyone" Lily comforted me. It was actually right, Mrs. Cope didn't like anyone – at least not the girls, and she was much more polite to the boys. I was actually glad that Jared was not in her class, I could totally picture her eyeing _my_ Jared the whole class. I groaned inwardly and prayed that I was free from my personal hell A.K.A. Mrs. Cope's Trig class very soon. For the rest of the class, I _tried_ very hard to keep my attention on what Mrs. Cope was saying, but trig or anything that was related to Mathematics wasn't my cup of tea. I was well aware of the fact that Jared on the other hand was amazing at Mathematics, so I decided to take trig just as a means to impress him, but he had taken Calculus! It was a horrible decision really, sometimes I would do something only for Jared and he would not even notice, it was very disappointing.

Finally the first hour was over and I jumped out of my seat just as soon as the bell rang, Mrs. Cope shook her head at me with disappointment. I ignored her and quickly started gathering my books, "Calm down Kim!" Lily told me, "I can't, I have history!" I squealed, "I know" she sighed, "How does my hair look?" I asked her self-consciously as we walked out of the class, "Your hair looks perfect, you look perfect, but are you going to talk to him today?" Lily asked the last part in a whisper, "No, are you crazy? I might choke myself if I tried to talk to him!" I replied frantically. "Don't be melodramatic" Lily told me as she rolled her eyes, "I am serious, I cannot do this" my heart was beating faster again. "You can do it" she told me, and that is when I realized that I was standing outside my classroom. "I will see you after the class okay?" I told her, not able to control my stupid heart or anxiety anymore. "Okay" Lily told me with a grin and walked past me to her class, I took a deep breath and then walked inside my class only to be frozen at the doorway.

I saw Jared, already sitting in his place, which was beside me! I thought that I would be able to reach first and awkwardly sit in my place before he came, so it will be easier was both of us, he would be easily able to ignore me and I would not trip or fall or do anything embarrassing in front of him. My heart was about to escape my ribcage as I moved forward to my seat. There was only Jared and Mr. Calvin, Mr. Calvin did not acknowledge my entrance and neither did Jared, so I quietly went to take my seat. The chair beside Jared made more sound than necessary when I pulled it out, Jared would definitely think I am mental. I settled in my seat and saw Jared from the corner of my eyes, his head was in his hand and his eyes were closed, maybe he was asleep. I pulled out my books and pencil, still looking at Jared, his eyes were still closed and I was taking in every inch of his handsome face just when everything in my hand fell between us on the floor making a loud noise, which startled Jared.

I quickly looked away and bent down to pick up my stuff, on the way to pick up my stuff, I banged my head in the table, "Ow!" escaped my lips, Jared reached down at the same time and helped me pick up my stuff, his hands were faster than mine, and I felt my heart race again which was ridiculous since my head was throbbing from getting hurt by the table. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, making my heart beat even faster if that was possible and I felt dazzled. I nodded my head quickly without looking at Jared, I was sure that I was tomato red by now and I could not look at Jared like this! He straightened up before me and I did the same, all my stuff was in his huge hands. I finally managed to get some courage and look at Jared to thank him. I took quick, shallow breathes as I looked up at Jared, as soon as I looked into his eyes with a tiny smile and said "Thank you" he gasped, making me blush further.

His eyes held mine and none of us looked away for what seemed like an eternity. I heard a whistle in the background and some hooting, which sent me back to reality, the class was almost filled with people. People were laughing at us and some were even going as far as whistling and hooting, including Jared's apparently new friend Paul. I was still tomato red when I took my books from Jared whose mouth was hung open and he was staring at _me_ , without looking away. Then I turned my eyes to the front of the class, but Jared just kept looking at me! I let my hair make a curtain between us but my hair were just too thin! At least Jared understood what I wanted and he tore his gaze from my face, which made me stop blushing. Mr. Calvin called for the class' attention and everyone slowly grew quite, Mr. Calvin was also chuckling as he turned his gaze away from his us.

Much to my dismay, Mr. Calvin only spoke for 20 minutes and then told us to do self-study while he was busy checking assignments. I kept my eyes strictly on my book as I knew Jared was sitting right next to me staring at me rather than his book! "Hello Kim" he finally spoke, his voice was husky and polite, I swallowed in hard, my heart was doing summersaults again; he knew my name!? I slowly turned to Jared and spoke in a hoarse voice "Hello" it sounded like I was choking, so I cleared my throat in a very low voice and said again "Hello" much better! "My name is Jared – Jared Cameron" he introduced himself, well I knew his name of course, "I know" I told him politely, and a grin grew on his handsome face. "You do?" he asked happily, "Yeah" I said looking at my book, I could feel my face heating up again, but just a little bit. "What did I miss in history in last four weeks?" he asked me after a long pause, inching towards me. "Uh – we actually" I started telling him what all he missed, he kept staring at my face, it was hard to tell whether he was actually listening to me or just staring. "That's it" I completed and he still did not tore his gaze from my face, "Oh, okay" he finally said as if I had broken him from a trance, and then he smiled at me, "I guess, I will have to ask about the other classes from someone else" he mumbled. "Actually, I am in all your class – well all except one, the first hour Calculus" I mentally slapped myself, he will think of me as a stalker now!

I heard Paul chuckle behind us, were we talking loud enough for him to hear? Maybe he was just chuckling at someone else? I ignored him, "Really?!" Jared looked – pleased. He should be running from me, I sounded like a stalker, I nodded slowly "Do you sit with me in any other class?" that hit me like a wrecking ball, he never really had noticed me then, I knew it of course but it still hurt to get it confirmed by him. I just nodded stiffly to answer his question and his grin disappeared, "I am sorry, have I offended you in some way? I am really sorry Kim!" he panicked, his eyes tried to find my gaze, his voice was louder than necessary, "Shh" I told him, still not looking at him but he grew quite. "I am sorry" he whispered, but he had already earned lots of audience for us, so I did not look at him or said anything after that to him. Jared went back to staring at me, this was actually quite ironic; the tables had actually turned for us.

"Hey Cameron" the guy beside Paul called Jared, it sounded like he was going to joke, "Take a picture, that might last longer" he mocked and everyone in the class laughed, making me turn crimson, only Jared and Paul did not laugh. Mr. Calvin called for the class' attention again and people grew quite, then he went back to do his work. I realized he was actually Robin who made that smart-ass comment. I dropped my head on my table again when I had have enough of Jared's staring, but this time I did it smoothly. I remembered all the times when I had actually wished that Jared would at least took a notice of me, but I knew it was too good to be true! Yet today after Jared had returned after four weeks, looking hot, he finally notices me, and not just that, he cannot keep his eyes off _me_ and also he talks to _me_! Isn't it too good to be true? Then another realization hit me like a wrecking ball and this wasn't something I was expecting. What if Jared was just messing around for fun? After all what was special in me today that wasn't there four weeks ago, except my changed haircut? But how could a haircut earn me Jared's attention? What if he was playing a prank on me with Paul?

Paul was listening to our conversation and he knew what Jared was doing, yet he was not interrupting him or passing any comments, that was so unlikely of him, what if he was actually involved? After all I knew next to nothing about Jared's actual personality, he only existed in my memories as my prince charming, the perfect guy, it was the personality I made on assumptions and imagination, and it could be far from being true. Tears welled up in my eyes but I shut my eyes close, even if these two were trying to make fun of me I will not play Damsel in distress and let them make fun of me! ' _I am not weak_ ' I chanted to myself and then finally looked up, the first thing I saw was Jared was leaning towards me with worried look on his face "Do you need something?" I asked, quite rudely, it shocked me that I spoke to Jared in such tone but I kept my face blank, Jared flinched at that and shook his head, so I gave him a sharp single nod and looked into my book, turning my back at him for the rest of the hour.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey wonderful people!**

 **So here is my new story on my new obsession Kim and Jared! Please leave me a review to let me know how my story is, I promise to update very soon, and I swear it will only take less than a minute for you people to give me your opinions through reviews. Hit the Favourite or Follow button if you like the story, I will be waiting to hear from you guys. :D**

 **-JT**


	2. Fairy Tale

**Chapter 2**

As soon as the bell rang I quickly picked up all my stuff from the table and got up from my seat, Jared was still staring at me while he packed his bag. Without looking back, I threw myself out of my seat and make a run for the door without being too obvious. I was almost to the door when I heard Jared's voice beside me "Are you running from me?" I turned to see his face – he looked sad. I shook my head and lied "I don't want to be late for my next class" "You have your class with me right? Let's walk together" Jared offered with a grin as we stepped outside the class. I saw Lily standing on the opposite side on the door, her eyes were widened as she looked at me and it looked like she was going to pass out, I tried not to laugh. "Uh – actually my friend is waiting for me" I told Jared, he followed my gaze and saw Lily, I scowled under my breath. She waved her hand at Jared with smiled at her and waved his hand back, Lily walked to us carefully. "Hey" she breathed, Can she be more obvious? "Hello" Jared greeted back calmly. Paul walked up behind Jared and whispered to him which made Jared tear his gaze from me, Lily subtly squeezed my hand, I glared at her and she tried her best to hide her excitement.

Jared gave Paul a single nod and with that Paul took off, "I was uh – asking your friend if I could walk her to her class" Jared turned to Lily. I tried to tell Lily to say 'no' but rather she said "Yeah, of course, I will see you in the cafeteria Kim" Lily gave me a tell-me-everything-later look before bouncing off to her class. I was left alone with Jared, who looked at me like he was a drowning man and I was the oxygen he needed to stay alive – it was ridiculous. "Shall we?" he asked politely, I sighed and without replying started walking to my class, Jared was hot on my heels. "So, do you have any siblings?" Jared asked, "Yes" I said not looking at him, "Are they younger than you?" he asked curiously, "Yes" I replied in the same tone, "That makes you the oldest sibling" he stated, "Yes, Jared what do you want?" I asked frustrated. "Nothing" he looked at me in shock, "I just want to spend time with you" he flashed a million dollar smile, making my heart beat faster. "Why?" it sounded like I was pleading, "Because I want to be your friend" he told me blinking his eyes rapidly. " _My_ friend?" I asked stopping dead in tracks, he stopped too and gave me a single nod. I eyed him suspiciously and then chuckled before walking away.

I walked faster than I could, which left me out of breathe by the time I had reached the class. The class was half filled already so I quickly took my seat. In a few minutes Jared entered the class and took his seat beside me. I turned around to see Lily staring at us again, and then behind her sat Paul who flashed me a smile, I quickly turned my head. Jared did not speak to me in the whole English class, but he just kept staring at me. Either he was just too good at acting out whatever part was given to him or by some miracle he finally noticed me! The second option was still too good to be true, so I kept my distance with Jared. People had started to notice that Jared was staring at me, and soon this news would be spread all around campus and maybe then Jared and Paul would have their fun. I kept listening to Mrs. Mills although it was very hard to concentrate since Jared was siting inches away, I could even feel his body heat which was ridiculous! I produced my diary from my bag when Mrs. Mills asked us to take notes and it opened to the last page which I shut immediately!

I looked at Jared from the corner of my eye to confirm he had not looked at the last page where I had scribbled my name and his last name together, he was busy searching for his notebook from his bag, I took a sigh of relief. I quickly opened a blank page and absentmindedly started taking notes, it was one thing to be made fun of and another to let everyone know who you crush was. I will have to tear this page from my diary once I get home and destroy it before anyone could lay their hand on it. I was too self-conscious for the rest of the class to concentrate and much to my relief Jared did not stare at me anymore, he was busy taking notes as well. When the bell rang for our lunch time, I shoved my diary at the very bottom of my bag and then kept all my books above it and then finally got out of my seat. "I will see you in the Biology class" Jared said hopefully, it was very hard for me to talk to rudely when he looked so innocent so I gave a weak smile and a single nod.

He looked at Paul who came to him in the next second and they both rushed out of the class. Lily walked stiffly at me and her expressions were bewildered, "What just happened?" she breathed, I could not help but laugh, "I will tell you everything, let's go" I pulled her out of the class. On our way to the cafeteria, I told Lily everything about our history class, I even asked her if she thinks Jared was somehow pulling a prank on me. She had replied "I don't think so, he seemed too genuine about his friendship – well it looks like more than friendship, and honestly people in the back were talking about how he would not stop looking at you for a minute, Paul shut them up and told them it was none of their business, they might not be bad at all" "Isn't it too good to be true?" I asked her as we entered the cafeteria, "I don't know, but at least give him a chance Kimmy, if all he wants is friendship then I don't see any harm" instinctively my eyes flickered to Jared, who was looking at me.

What was weirder was Paul was not sitting with rest of his friends, the two of them were sitting alone! Paul never used to hang out with Jared or Sam, and now he looked inseparable from Jared. He had also changed _a lot_! Just like Jared his hair was cropped cut and he had grown muscles too. Lily and I took our food – I just took a bottle of mango juice and we sat on our table. We both sat in such a way that Jared and Paul were on our left. "Have you done your English assignment?" I asked Lily, I felt that Jared was able to hear our conversation and so was Paul. "What?" she asked confused, "Have you?" I tried to gesture her that Jared was still looking and once she got me she got into her overacting "Oh… Yeah… I did it weeks ago" I rolled my eyes at her. Then I asked her about her weekend and she went on and on about how she watched this new movie and then went out for a lunch with family friends, the guy was so hot and I just zoned out after that. Actually Jarred was never taking his eyes off me which made it very hard to concentrate, but I would occasionally say " _Hmm_ " and " _Ohh_ " to encourage Lily to keep speaking.

When Lily asked me what I did for my weekend Jared slightly angled his body towards us which made me self-conscious again, it was really stupid he cannot hear us from that far. "My mom took me to shopping since Cami was out with Aunt, and she forced me into getting this haircut" I told her, keeping it short and simple. "But it really looks good on you, I envy your hair, it is the most beautiful shade of brown" Lily was speaking three octaves higher than her normal voice, obviously she wanted Jared to listen. I narrowed my eyes at her and stomped on her feet under the table. I could not be sure if Jared and Paul were laughing on us or were they laughing at their own jokes. "What are you doing?" I whisper shouted at Lily, "I need him to see how beautiful you are" she whispered back, "He doesn't need to _see_ anything" I whisper shouted again, Lily huffed and we both straightened ourselves.

I really wished Jared hadn't heard anything that Lily had said, it would be too embarrassing. I decided to keep my eyes on our table, so I removed the bottle cap and drank my mango juice. Lily and I sat in silence and had our lunch until the bell rang for the fourth hour. I groaned and sank in my seat, "What happened?" Lily asked, "Biology" I groaned again, "And after than P.E and then finally we are going home" Lily joined in, "I need to sleep" I told Lily, "Me too, I know I get better sleep than you but still" Lily replied with a smirk. Jared and Paul had taken off before I even knew, so I stared at his vacant seat when Lily broke my trance "Honestly Kim, let him talk to you if he wants to in the class" "Fine" I sighed before getting up.

Lily dropped her tray and I dropped my bottle before we made our way to our class, Lily had taken Physics so I dropped her to her class and then continued to my class. The class was almost empty, Jared was there, with Paul sitting on his table casually. I walked to my table confidently and sat down, "Hey Kim" Paul greeted me, I blinked my eyes at first, was I dreaming? Paul Lahote was talking to me? "Hey Paul" I greeted back, Jared did not even look at me, it was like I was punched in the stomach. I dropped my gaze from them and pulled out my books, "Man, I just want to get out of the school already" Paul complaint, "We need to see Sam after the school remember?" Jared reminded him, they were talking in a whisper but they were too close to me, still I felt like I was eavesdropping. "Yeah" Paul replied happily, what was it with Sam? I sighed and tried to block them out.

In another two minutes Paul got off the table and went to sit behind us, "Kim" Jared said politely, my eyes lit up and I looked at him, "Yes?" I asked politely, his eyes lit up too, "Uh – can I – have the notes for biology please – I am lagging far behind?" Jared asked me, "Uh – sure I will give it to you after the class" I answered with a smile, and Jared smiled back. After that we did not talk at all for the rest of the class, he would glance at me ever so often but it would only be from the corner of his eye, and if by chance we glanced at each other at the same time, he would smile at me and I would smile back. I was satisfied with it, actually I was more than satisfied with it.

When the bell rang, I turned towards Jared who had his bag packed already, I stretched out my hand which held my notebook. He considered my hands for a minute and then grinned as he took my notebook, "Thank you so much Kim, you are a life saver" he said enthusiastically making me blush, "Anytime" I mumbled and turned my head away to pack my bag. Even though Paul had left the class and I packed like a sloth, Jared waited for me patiently. When I was done he smiled at me and asked "Can I walk you to P.E?" "Sure" I replied politely but my heart was beating like anything! I got out of my seat and we both walked out of the class together.

In the hallway people turned to look at us which again made me self-conscious but Jared couldn't care less about it. P.E. was in other building so it gave us a 3 minutes' walk time. "I am sorry, if I had offended you so how" Jared started again, "No, you haven't" I assured him, he had not offended me it was just that it was too sudden to accept that he wanted to be my friend all of a sudden. "What do you like to play?" he asked me curiously, "Uh – I can play anything really" I told him, "How about badminton? Would you like to play it with me?" Jared's eyes sparkled when he asked me the last question, my heart was running now, and there were butterflies in my stomach, badminton with Jared Cameron. I subtly pinched myself, it wasn't a dream at all! "Sure" I replied keeping my voice steady.

He dropped me outside the girl's locker room and disappeared behind the boy's locker room door. I rushed inside, all the girls there were eyeing me like I was an alien or I had a third eye. "So? How did it go?" Lily asked me enthusiastically, "Jared asked me to play badminton with him!" I squealed, although it seemed ridiculous to squeal at this, he had just asked me to play a game but Lily joined me too so it must mean _something_. "Oh my god" she kept squealing, I quickly changed my clothes once I noticed Lily had already changed her clothes. She had stuffed my bag in the locker by the time I came out and I stuffed my clothes inside too.

We both rushed out and I saw Jared standing near the entrance of the gym with Paul. Jared had worn without sleeves tan blue school jersey, which was tightly fitted around his abs, and black shorts with black sneakers. Can he stop looking that hot?! I thought I was going to pass out when Lily pulled me to them. "Are you ready to play?" Jared asked me excitedly, "Yeah" I replied trying not to stare at his muscular and perfect body. The four of us played together that day, it was Jared and me V/S Paul and Lily. Every time we earned a score Jared would look at me like I had done something to win a noble prize, only once did we gave each other a high five, Lily was shocked to say the least and I had turned crimson after that.

The P.E. looked like it lasted only 10 minutes or so, but when it was over I literally rushed to the girls' locker room and got dressed. Jared was standing outside the locker room when I walked out with Lily. She said "Bye, see you tomorrow" and ran off before hearing my reply. I walked up to Jared who offered me to let him walk me to my car to which I agreed. It was a comfortable silence as we walked through the parking lot. Jared opened my car door and closed it when I got in and said "See you tomorrow Kim" with hopeful eyes and a grin, "See you Jared" I said before driving out of the parking lot. My biggest dream had come true Jared Cameron had not only noticed me but had also talked to me for the whole day!


	3. Friends!

**Chapter 3**

I got out of my car and went inside my house, it had started raining by the time I reached home. The door was unlocked so I got inside and locked. "Kim is that you?" my mom asked from the kitchen. "Yeah mom, it's me" who else would it be? I hung my raincoat and got out of my rain boots. When I entered the living room Cami was already watching TV, so I went straight to my room. I dumped my bag on my bay window and went straight to my small closet. I was shuddering because of the cold, I needed to get out of these clothes before I catch cold. I quickly changed into another pair of denim jeans and a full sleeves plain figure fitting white T- shirt.

Then I rushed downstairs, to the kitchen. Mom had already served the lunch, "Did you get wet again?" she asked me, and I shrugged and sat on my seat. It was lasagna for lunch this afternoon, I took my first bite when mom had given Cami her plate in front of the TV and sat with me lunch. "Mom, it's delicious" I complimented mom with a grin. She looked at me in amusement, "You look happy after a long time, is Jared back in school?" mom asked me, yeah mom knew about my crush on Jared. "Mom, he talked to me today, for the whole day!" I said excitedly, mom was a little taken aback by the news, it was discouraging really. "Really? He talked to you" mom was still not convinced, "Seriously mom why would you say it with such a discouraging amount of surprise" I frowned. "Kim, it not like that baby, I am so sorry, it is just that – he has never talked to you before" mom defended herself, "I know and today he was following me everywhere!" I agreed, even though it hurt to agree. "Well, maybe he finally noticed how beautiful you are" mom cooed with a huge smile.

I did not reply to that, I was not good at accepting compliments, so we ate in silence after that. After my lunch I decided to get some sleep, I was really very tired. I got under my sheets when it was raining heavily, and I fell asleep listening to the raindrops falling on my closed window. When I woke up I wasn't sure if it was night or early morning. I rolled over to check my bed side clock, it was 6 pm, so I stretched a bit and got out of my bed. I was eagerly looking forward to tomorrow morning, which when came was better than I expected, Jared waited for me in the parking lot, talked to me the whole day, at least his staring was more subtle than before. The whole week after that was spent like a fairy tale. I was really very afraid that it might break one day and it will crush my heart, I should have not let Jared get so close to me but it was too late now. I gave Jared my notebooks alternative days to let him complete his work, but he was still lagging behind, when I asked why that was happening he sighed and told me "Duty Calls." I even offered him to let me do his work, after all I had more free time on my hand than he did.

All this good time continued till Friday, I was getting late for my English class, we had to submit our assignment that day so I was taking it out from my locker. The hall was almost empty, I was so excited for this assignment, I was surely getting an A on this one, I had worked 2 weeks on this one, sacrificed my sleep for it! When I turned from my locker with my assignment in my hand, Ashley (a popular girl from our school) startled me. "Hey Kim" she said in a honey voice, "Hey Ashley" I mumbled. She had the traditional Quileute beauty, long shiny hair, beautiful skin tone, slim and curvy. "Is that your English assignment?" she asked in the same tone pointing towards my assignment, I nodded. What she did next happened quicker than I could register, she snatched it from my hand, "Hey!" I protested. "Now, don't be such a mean person Kim" Ashely told me, "What?" I asked in a brittle person. "See, you know Jared and I had a fling, well everyone knew that, but it ended long time ago, before he disappeared however, I was two steps away from getting him back, but then he disappeared and now that he is back he follows you like a lost puppy. So let's share, you can have him and I will have you A's, that is only fair you know" Ashley replied in a honeyed tone again.

I was at loss of words, tears welled up in my eyes and I knew I was too coward to fight with Ashley, so she walked away with _my_ assignment in _her_ hand. I sank into the ground, my back pressed against the lockers and my knees close to my chest, with my hands wrapped around my knees and I buried my face in my hands. I would never blame Jared for this, it was not his fault really, and who could stand Ashley? She was mean and rude. I didn't know how long had I sat in that position when Jared's voice startled me "Kim, are you hurt?" he was panicking again. I looked up although I knew my cheeks were covered with tears and tears were still flowing from my eyes. "Yes… No… Yes" I choked out, "What happened?" he bent down in front of me and sat there on his knees, "Ashley snatched my assignment from my hand" I started and told him everything. As soon as I was complete, his whole body started shaking terribly, his eyes were dark and cold and he was no longer the carefree happy Jared that I knew. "Jared – are you okay?" I asked in a brittle tone, he raised his hand to my cheeks but then held his hand back and dropped it to his side, "I will be back" his voice was barely audible.

He got up faster than I could process and darted to where Ashley had left, I got up behind him but froze in my place. What was he doing? Was he okay? He was shaking so terrible, like he was going to explode or something. I wrapped my arms around myself and stared dumbly at where Jared had disappeared. My English class had started long ago, and I did not have any plan to go to that class now, especially without an assignment. In a few minutes I saw Jared walking back to me, his eyes were still dark and he was still shaking as he made his way to me. He stopped a few inches away from me, "I am so sorry Kim" he said, not able to look into my eyes. "Why are you sorry?" I was confused, he handed me a pile of torn papers, I gasped when I realized it was my assignment torn into four pieces!

"I tried to reason with Ashley, but she tore your assignment into pieces before I could do anything, I am so sorry Kim" he was barely audible. "It isn't your fault Jared, thanks for trying at least" I told him, but he was still shaking and not looking into my eyes. My hands were shaking too and my heart was beating fast even in this bizarre situation, I finally managed to keep my hand on his shoulder and his eyes finally found mine, "I don't blame you" I told him truthfully, his shaking slowed down and then finally stopped and that was when I dropped my hand with a sigh. "Are you going to the class?" he mumbled, "No, I cannot go there without an assignment" I told him. I walked across the hall and threw my assignment in the dustbin, "I will see you in Biology" I told Jared without looking at him and walked away with my bag hung on my shoulder.

When the fresh air hit me, rather than feeling better I felt nauseous, how had I let Ashley ruin my perfect A? Why was I so weak? I was angry – not at Ashley but at myself. I wanted to cry but I could not cry right now, I had no reason to cry. Well, I might as well get suspended if someone saw me roaming around so I went to the sick room immediately. Ms. Hopson looked up to me from her book, she saw something in my looks which alarmed her. "Are you okay dear? Have you been crying?" she asked getting up from her seat, I nodded weakly, "I am having terrible stomach cramps" I lied, it sounded like the truth though. "Oh, Okay – lie down, I will get you some heating pads" Ms. Hopson told me. I made my way to the bed and dumped my bag near it, I removed my shoes slowly and got on the bed, and curled in a ball.

Ms. Hopson bought me a heating pad and then went back to her seat and started reading her book again. I was happy to be left alone, it was good that today was Friday, I will just go to Mrs. Mills and tell her everything that happened and tell her that she could give me an F as well, because she would definitely not give me two more weeks to complete my work so what was the point? After the hour passed in sick room, I got up from the bed and quickly wore my shoes and walked up to Ms. Hopson, "Thank you Ms. Hopson, I feel much better" I told her with a weak smile, "Eat something dear, it will help" she suggested me as I returned her the heating pad, "I will" I replied before walking out of the sick room.

Lily must be worried about me since I never showed up in English so I quickly walked to the cafeteria. She was sitting there alone on our table, when I sat with her she was startled. "Where were you?" she hissed, I sighed and narrated the whole story, "I will kill that bitch" Lily hissed again after my story, "It's okay, I don't think that would solve anything" I shrugged, "But Kim you worked so hard on the assignment, you know Jared was so silent and sad in the whole class" she told me, "I think he feels guilty" I told her, "No, it was not the guilty sad, it was the sad – sad" Lily tried to make me see the difference but it made me laugh, why would Jared be sad? "Okay, I am going to get something to eat" I told Lily, "Okay" she mumbled and went back to eat her food. I picked up cereals for today that was enough for me.

When I came back to my seat I saw Jared or Paul weren't at their table, my eyes scanned for the whole cafeteria, "Are you looking for Jared?" Lily asked, I looked at her and nodded, "He stopped to talk to Mrs. Mills" Lily told me, "Okay" I mumbled before taking a spoon full of cereals. I almost choked when out of thin air Jared appeared and sat next to me with a grin on his face "Oh my god" I breathed, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" Jared sincerely apologize but did not drop his grin. "It's okay" I assured him with a weak smile. "Kim, I have solved your problem" Jared told me happily, "What problem?" my eyebrows were creased together, "The English assignment problem, please stop worrying about it, I promise you are getting an A" Jared promised, "How?" my voice was barely audible to myself but somehow Jared had heard, "Do you trust me?" he asked seriously, a sparkle of hope in his eyes.

"Yes" it was the truth, I did trust him. He had held my gaze with his eyes and both of us were inclined towards each other when we spoke those last words. It was like his eyes were searching my soul, he looked at me with adoration, love and respect. My heart did summersaults again, but I did not drop my gaze, actually I _could_ not drop my gaze. Lily coughed hysterically after a few seconds breaking me and Jared out of our trance. I felt the heat raise up to my cheeks again, and I looked at my table, "I will see you in the next class" Jared said awkwardly, "Yeah" I mumbled. I heard him get up and walk away from our table. I quickly shot up my head to Lily, "What was that?" she spoke every word slowly, "I don't know" I breathed, "well, it looked like you two were going to kiss" Lily squealed, it made me turn into a tomato again "Shh" I hissed, "It was nothing like that" I assured her, oh how I wish Lily was telling the truth but she wasn't.

The rest of the day was very uneventful, Jared disappeared after Biology class, and so did Paul. He hadn't returned my History notebook before he left, so I could not do my History homework today. I wondered what Jared was going to do about my English assignment. Maybe he would stick those sheets together and submit them, but I remember throwing them in the dustbin, so that wasn't a possibility, what would he really do?! I laid awake for most of the night again, thinking what had happened in past one week, my life had changed a lot! The last think I remember was that I closed my eyes remembering the first day Jared had looked at me and gasped, like he had never seen a girl like me. It wasn't possible, he had obviously seen many more beautiful girls than me, but what if he wasn't just playing a prank? What if he was really trying to be my friend? What if Jared Cameron had noticed Kim Connweller after all?

"KIM! YOUR FRIEND IS HERE!" I heard Cami shout, "KIM!" she shouted again, I groaned and looked at my bed side clock, it was 10:30, what was Lily doing here so early? "KIM!" Cami sounded annoyed now as she pounded on my door, "I am up, I will be there in 10 minutes" I told Cami, "Okay, come quickly" Cami said and I heard footsteps running away. It was really annoying how a ten year old can get on your nerves. I threw my legs off my bed, and went to my bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face before I went down to meet Lily and ask her what she was doing here so early? She would not mind my white shorts and black figure fitted but comfortable tank top, would she? Nope, she had seen me at my worse. I was glad that my hair were okay, otherwise she would make fun of me. I looked at the stairs as I rushed down to avoid tripping but when I looked up to see Lily, I froze at my place.

It was not Lily who was standing in the living room talking to my mom, it was Jared Cameron! His eyes flickered at me and then his mouth hung open at my sight, I realized what I was wearing was not decent enough for him to see. "Hey Kim" he greeted me, his eyes still ready to pop out any second, "Hey Jared" I replied awkwardly, he shook his head as if trying to shake some thought away. My mom was grinning behind him before she disappeared and left Jared and me in the living room alone, "What are you doing here?" I asked walking up to him, "I – uh – I came to return you notebook" he said straightening his hand out in which he held my notebook. I took it from his hand and said "You did not have to go out of your way to return my notebook, you could have returned it in the school" "I also wanted to see you" he told me absentmindedly, "I mean – I knew you were upset and everything so – I thought I could see if you felt better now" he corrected shutting his eyes tightly. "I am much better thank you" I replied as my heart skipped a beat. We both looked at each other without speaking a word for a long moment before he broke the silence, "I have to go now" he said with a frown, "Okay" I mumbled, "See you on Monday Kim" the way he spoke my name rang a thousand church bells and I swear I could hear the angels and cupid sing somewhere close by. "Okay Jared" I replied in my dreamy state, he gave an award winning grin before he walked out my living room and I stood there looking at where he disappeared.

"Wow" I heard my mother's voice. I quickly shut the door and turned to my mom, she was grinning and had placed her hands on her waist as she looked at me "Why didn't anyone tell me that Jared was here?" I hissed, "Cami told you right? That your friend was here?" My mom asked tilting her head to one side, "Yeah, but I thought Lily was here" I answered, "That guy came all the way to return your notebook" my mom sounded surprised, "Yeah" I sighed dreamily, "Kim, he is head over heels in love with you" my mom said in a matter-of-fact voice as she slowly nodded her head, her statement made me blush, "No, he isn't, he just wants to be my friend" I told mom before running upstairs to avoid any more of the awkward conversation.

Once behind my door, I hugged my notebook tightly to my chest as I felt my heart pounding. It isn't possible is it that Jared was head over heels in love with _me_? I could not help but dial Lily's number, "Hello" she said in a sleepy voice, "Lily, you will not guess what just happened" I squealed, "What happened?" she was still sleepy, "Jared came to my house!" I almost shouted out of excitement. "What?!" she was up now, "Tell me every freaking detail" she continued, "Okay, so I was sleeping and Cami said that a friend is here for me, I thought it was you so I went downstairs and saw Jared Cameron standing in my living room talking to my mother, and the way his mouth hung open, Lily I was not hallucinating, he came here to return me my History notebook and then he said he also came here to see me since I was upset yesterday" I told her in one breathe, "Did you brush your teeth before meeting him?" Lily asked me seriously, "Yes, I also washed my face thankfully" I told her as I nodded my head, "What are you wearing?" she asked, "My white shorts and black tank top" I told her quickly, "The loose one?" she enquired, "No" I snorted, "I threw that one away long time ago, the figure fitting, that keeps me warm, and is still without sleeves" I told her slowly as I tried to make her remember, "you mean you were looking hot" she stated, making me blush again.

"Lily, this really happened!" I breathed, "I think Jared likes you Kimmy" Lily said seriously, "I don't think so, I mean it has been only a week since we started talking, how can he just start liking me all of a sudden?" I reasoned with her, "Well, I don't know about that, but I see it in his eyes" Lily sighed as if she was remembering something, "Thanks for listening to me Lily" I told her genuinely, "C'mon, you are my best friend, I will always listen to you, and this was a serious matter" she told me. We talked a few more minutes and then hung up, I finally went downstairs and ate my breakfast in silence. What an amazing start to my day, and as expected, since Jared's face was the first face I saw when I woke up in the morning, my rest of the day went amazing!

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Thank you so much for such amazing responses on my FF. I need to tell you that I am going to keep the Twilight timeline as it is in my story, and I hope I am doing justice to my characters. Please keep sending me your opinions, they mean the world to me. Also, I want to clear this out that English is not my first language so please forgive me for my mistakes, I am trying my level best here. Thank you guys, don't forget to leave me a review and hit the favourite or follow button if you like the story. :D**

 **-JT**


	4. Family Lunch

**Chapter 4**

Sunday morning I woke up late again, it was 10:45 am by the time I woke up. I realized it was raining again today which was why it was so cold at the moment. I slowly got out of my blanket, unwillingly; and then stepped right onto my slippers, avoiding the cold floor. It was almost unreal how tired I still felt walking across my room, when I had slept for 8 hours.

In my bathroom, I was no faster, brushing my teeth slowly and then washing my face with luke warm water. I shuddered when the water touched my face even though it was luke warm. I debated whether to take shower right now or after my breakfast but I decided to take it right now since I knew there was no afterwards for a lazy person like me and I did not like to skip showers.

I walked to my closet and pulled out my jeans and turtle neck full sleeves, plain, leaf green T shirt. Slowly walking to the bathroom, I heard my room's door creak open so I went back to my room. "Good you are awake" Mom said with a grin when she looked at me, "Yeah, why, everything okay?" I asked, creasing my bows together. Mom put her hands on her slender waist and told me as shook her head "Your dad thought it would be a good idea to have a BBQ lunch today but of course we cannot have a BBQ in this weather, so your dad told us to get ready because we are going out for a BBQ lunch"

A smile automatically grew on my face, it had been a long while since we four had gone out for lunch or any other outing. It somehow filled me with energy the way looking at Jared's face filled me with energy.

My smile turned into a grin when I thought about Jared and passed one week! It had finally happened, Jared had finally noticed me! Oh swoon – wait did I really think 'Oh swoon'?! I am definitely going crazy.

"I will get ready quickly" I told mom and rushed to the bathroom. My speed had suddenly increased just by thinking of Jared. Though once in the shower, I zoned out for a few seconds, I started replaying the memory of Jared looking into my eyes, for the first time ever! His eyes were melting at the mere sight of me – or was it just my imagination? I shook my head and quickly took my shower, trying very hard not to think about Jared because that would mean zoning out and getting late.

I towel dried myself and my hair quickly and then got in my clothes. It was definitely cold outside, so I was going to wear my jacket as well. It was a plain black hood jacket that I wore it once I was ready. I ran downstairs to see everyone was ready and waiting for me. "I am ready" I announced entering the living room, "Let's go then" Dad said enthusiastically, and got up from the couch, followed by mom and Cami.

In another few minutes we were on road to Port Angeles for our lunch. Cami and I were in the back seat, she was talking animatedly about this short trip. She also told me how her friends went out every weekend, mom and dad were chuckling with me as we heard her rant how her friends " _showed off_ " that they went to many places. It was really cute to see Cami huff every time she talked about something like that. It then went to how she was already loathing school! "You have to go to school for 8 more years" I laughed at her. "But it is unfair, school is so boring" Cami groaned, "If you don't go to school how will you get a job and buy a pony for yourself?" I asked her trying to sound serious, "Can't you buy me a pony Kim?" she asked targeting me with her puppy dog dance. "She cannot buy you everything hun" dad chuckled, "I guess I will have to go to school then" Cami mumbled as she crossed her tiny hands in front of her chest and looked out of the window making us all laugh.

After a few moments of silence I plugged in my earphones and started listening to songs as I looked out the window, watching the rain drops fall on the window. The music was just a background music, I was once again having my crazy fantasies. One of which was Jared kissing me in the rain and confessing his undying love for me – it was ridiculous, but of course there was no harm in imagining things right? Especially when it was never going to happen and no one would be hurt because of my imagination. I dreamt being standing on the first beach when Jared pulls me closer and holds me by my waist, the light showers of rain turn into a heavy rain and we both look at each other unwilling to move away. He would slowly touch his lips to mine and then give me my first kiss ever!

I tried to remember how to breathe after my fantasy. It was not like he would ever kiss me, I am just pushing my luck more than I should; but again I had dreamt of Jared noticing me, we were supposed to collide into each other and my books would fall down, he would pick it up for me and our eyes would meet, and in that moment he would fall in love with me. Now, that somewhat happened in reality as well, only my books fell because of me ogling Jared, but he picked up my books for me and then our eyes met, and since then he followed me everywhere, watched my every move. It should scare me really, Jared suddenly showing interest in _me_ , but I have never felt so safe around anyone but him. I felt a sudden connection with him the moment he looked into my eyes, maybe there was something more for us than just being friends.

I should not go there because if it isn't that way then I would end up being hurt and lonely and Jared would most likely move on with some much prettier girl than me, he would be happy after all. Thinking of Jared with some other girl was like punching holes in my heart by my own hands. How was he so blind to not see my love even now? Honestly sometimes he makes me so mad at him, but then I would imagine his face or see his face at school and it would melt off my anger, I would even forget why was I mad at him in the first place?

What must he be doing at this moment? We were about to reach Port Angeles but all I could think of was Jared. Maybe he was having lunch with his family too, or maybe he would be with Sam. Can't I just see his face today as well? Maybe he could just show up at the restaurant and come up to me and talk? Well that will be a long shot. I was 99% sure we would not see each other today, I sighed at the knowledge and tried to focus on the scene outside my window.

We were about to enter Port Angeles in a few minutes, and my stomach was already burning with hunger. I saw my mom turn around to look at me and her lips were moving too fast for me to read, so I yanked my earphones out of my ears and said "What?"

"I was asking how come you girls are so quiet back there, but now I know" Mom said shaking her head, "Cami is already asleep, so that is why I was listening to my music" I explained looking at Cami, even mom looked at her. "She looks so cute when she sleeps" Mom cooed and I could not help but agree. Cami's chubby cheeks were to die for, and her big doe eyes were too beautiful to be true. "You remember Kimmy, you would not put her down even for a second when she was born?" Mom asked grinning. Mom and dad loved to narrate our baby stories, it was really embarrassing some times, but I did not mind.

"And now she is always acting so mature" I sighed, "Well, that's just her age, she loves you no matter what" Dad told me as he looked in the rear view mirror, and mom nodded in agreement. "Was I like that too?" I asked with a smirk, "You were too easy to handle" Mom laughed, "I agree, she would sleep so easily, not wake up in middle of the night, never put up a fight" Dad remembered looking straight ahead on the road. "I remember her waking everyone up in the middle of the night" I looked at Cami as those words escaped my mouth. "She is a spoilt one, isn't she?" Dad chuckled.

"That is partially Kim's mistake too, she loves Cami so dearly, it is actually heart melting" Mom cooed looking at us. Yes, I loved my baby sister to death, I remember coming back from school and Cami would run to hug me and I would tackle her with kisses on her chubby cheeks. She did all this even now but there were also those days when she would not run up to me when I came back from school or let me kiss her chubby cheeks.

I could not help myself, so I leaned in and kissed Cami on her cheek while she unconsciously scooted over to me and I kept my hand on her tiny waist. The rest of the ride was spent remembering my and Cami's childhood, it was really amazing to hear and remember about Cami more than hearing about myself, I assume it is because I was there to witness all of Cami's childhood and I cannot remember a single detail about mine, but that was okay since I was a baby then.

As far as my last year is concerned, it is engraved on my mind and heart, especially everything related to Jared. Oh why cannot I go an hour without thinking of him?! I needed to get a life, he surely did not think of me every second of his day, he had many more important things to do than think about a plain girl, who was in love with him.

There was no signs of rain outside this restaurant where we were going to have our little family brunch, well now lunch. So I woke up Cami, and she excitedly jumped out of the car and opened mom's door, pulling her out excitedly. I got out of the car too, but as soon as I stepped out, I shuddered at the cool breeze hitting me. "It is pretty cold isn't it?" Dad asked, considering it was January, it wasn't that cold at all! "Let' go" Dad said and we four walked into the restaurant together.

The lunch was amazing, we all ordered whatever we wanted to and shared our food with each other. The food as always was very delicious, and our conversation the whole while was very interesting, it started from the weather to forests, then turned into a political issue, finally to the food and then at the end it was school and friends.

"Kim, why don't you and Lily have sleepovers anymore?" Dad asked curiously, "It hasn't been that long since we had sleepovers" I told him looking at my food. "Kim has made new friends" Cami joined in, "New friends?" Dad sounded surprised, it was very discouraging to hear that amount of surprise in his voice, "Yes, mom what was his name?" Cami asked innocently and my head shot up suddenly, "Jared Cameron" my mom was smirking as she spoke his name, "He isn't a friend, he is just a classmate" I mumbled, "No, he said he is your friend when he came to return your notebook yesterday" Cami protested, "Is he one of Sam Uley's friend?" dad enquired, "Yes, the same Jared" mom answered, "He is a nice kid, always helping others" Dad said with a smile, oh so Jared always helps everyone, that was heart breaking, because it meant I was no different from other's for him.

"Yes, our Kimmy has been helping him catch up with school work" mom told dad, "That is good, people are actually freaking out because they have suddenly changed, it is not like they aren't the same underneath, they are even more helpful now" Dad joined in, "It's sad to think people are freaking out because of their appearance but they are still helping us all" mom agreed, "I don't think he looks bad at all, he looks handsome" Cami said seriously, it actually made me blush a little.

Mom and Dad just laughed at Cami and I joined in only half-heartedly. Did Jared really helped everyone by going out of his way like he was doing for me? Then I wasn't really special I guess, I sighed at the thought but tried not to let mom or dad see I was affected by our conversation and kept my smile intact while eating my food. The topic suddenly changed to Cami's school life, for which I was really glad.

The rest of the day was a blur for me, since I was trying really hard to keep Jared out of my mind, he was not supposed to be so important to me! I would honestly start losing my mind if I kept thinking so much about Jared.

At night however as I laid in my bed awake all I could think of was Jared, I knew I should have not let his sudden attention get the better of me. I knew something was wrong by the way he was giving me so much attention, first I thought he was playing a prank which was less heart breaking than to realize that I was not special for him _at all_! He was just helping me the way he would help anyone, I thought long and hard for a solution since I was going to see him tomorrow as well and it would break my heart even more.

The only solution I could come up with was to avoid him altogether, yes, I would avoid him. I did not wanted Jared Cameron's help at all, I was perfectly capable of helping myself. So it was decided then, I would avoid him at all cost.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Thank you for such amazing responses on my story ^_^ It always makes my day to read your reviews, I love you all for that :D Keep leaving your opinions, hit the Favourite and Follow button if you like the story. I would be waiting :)**

 **-JT**


	5. Diary

**Chapter 5**

Once again I was walking in the hallways to my locker, to meet Lily. I had told her over the phone this morning that we are to avoid Jared at any cost, she asked me why and I told her that I will tell her when I meet her at the school.

As I was about to reach my locker I saw Lily standing near my locker subtly shaking her head, I creased my brows together and tried to understand what she was trying to tell me, until I saw Jared standing a little behind her and looking into my direction.

My heart started pounding at his sight but nonetheless, I quickly turned around and ran to the girl's washroom. I waited for Lily to follow me and she did appear after a minute, "Would you please tell me why you are ignoring him?" Lily asked me as she busted through the door. Several girls turned around to see us so I shushed her and then spoke in a low voice, "I went on a lunch with my parents yesterday, and Cami told dad that Jared is my new friend and then dad was really happy that I made friends with such a helpful and good guy, so it practically means he is just helping me because he helps everyone and not because I am someone special, and I had started thinking of it as something more, if it gets anymore out of hands I will end up being hurt" after that long speech in one breathe Lily looked at me as if I was an alien.

"Kim you are crazy and blind" Lily said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Why would you say that?" I was annoyed, why did she not understand me? "Kim, he totally adores you okay? He is going out of his way to help you, just give him a chance, you know when you ran away from him, he looked like you have punched him hard" getting his new knowledge from Lily made my heart do summersaults.

"And what if he does not adore me?" I challenged raising my eyebrows, "Can be please trust me on this?" Lily breathed, "It is too good to be true" I said looking away, "Well, you prayed for this to happen for so long and now your wish is granted so just go with the flow" Lily told me happily. "Fine but if –" I started, "If he hurts you, I will bury him alive" Lily promised with a smile, I chuckled half-heartedly.

Finally we walked to our first class – Trig together, the hall was almost empty, and Jared was nowhere to be seen. What would I say when he would ask me why I ran away? I wish he would not ask at all, since I had no explanation for him.

Trig was as always the worst ever! I was tortured to death – well not literally but if it had lasted another second I would have actually died! Once the bell rang and I realized it was my History class with Jared, my anxiety was on its peak. It was almost unrealistic how I felt – how can I be so anxious? What was I anxious about?

"Talk him normally" Lily ordered as we walked out of the class. "I don't think I will be able to talk to him" I mumbled, looking at the ground. "Why?" she was shocked, "Lily, I am feeling anxious – what if he ask me why I ran away from him?" I was biting my lower lip out of anxiety. "C'mon Kim, just make up some excuse, it is not that difficult" Lily threw her free hand in the air as she spoke. By this time we had reached my class, I could feel my heart trying to jump out of my chest.

"Go" Lily pushed me inside the class and I stumbled on my feet as I entered the class, Jared's eyes instantly shot up and just when our eyes met my heart started pounding. I looked away before I turned a bright shade of red.

I settled in my seat slowly but Jared's eyes never left my face. "Hey" I said with a smile, taking out my notebook and books. "Hey" he breathed and I could not help but look up at him. His face was just inches away from mine! His eyes looked like they were searching for my soul, I have never seen such love in anyone's eyes – was I hallucinating again?! I subtly pinched myself – it did hurt.

It felt like eternity as we looked into each other's eyes and then someone cleared their throat behind us. I broke out of my trance the same second that Jared broke out of his trance. I looked from the corner of my eye at who cleared their throat – it was Paul, who was smirking as he looked ahead.

Jared was looking away from me so I dropped my gaze to my book. The class started in a few minutes and I tried to concentrate at what was going on but I failed big time! When the class was about to end Jared's hand brushed past mine, my heart skipped a beat immediately – was it by accident that our hands touched? The touch that only lasted for a second felt like a spark. My eyes flickered at Jared who looked down at me with the same expressions as mine, as if he had felt the spark too!

The bell rang and I finally looked away after giving Jared a smile.

Once I was out of the class I realized it was English class, has Jared done something about my English assignment or has he forgotten? I did not wait for Jared to walk me to the class and neither had Lily come outside my class that was because Jared walked with me to the English class since the last week.

The class was almost empty when I reached, and when I entered Mrs. Mills looked up to me with a smile – strange, I just smiled back. Jared walked inside the class after me, Mrs. Mills also smiled at him. What was going on?

Jared sat down next to me and grinned as he looked at me, "I submitted your assignment" he told me, "Seriously?" I asked, I was actually astonished. "I have to say you did a very amazing job" Jared complimented me, "Thanks" I replied with a grin. "What about your assignment?" I asked after a long pause, "That I will submit tomorrow" Jared told me, "Oh" was all I could say.

"Class" Mrs. Mills called for our attention once everyone was in their seat. "I have started grading your assignments and you have done a very good work this time, I am impressed" she said with a smile. Mrs. Mills was easy to impress, we just have to be good at her subject and we were in her good books. She went on and on about how some people have done exceptional jobs and I could tell she was proud of herself too.

After that she announced that we will get our assignments graded by tomorrow. The rest of the class was a blur for me, nothing had happened the whole class. I was hiding the last page of my diary again from Jared, the page that I forgot to tore! "Kim" Jared whispered to me, "Yeah?" I asked in the same tone, "Will you sit with me in the lunch today?" he sounded hopeful but he looked down, I wanted to say Hell Yeah! But I controlled myself although my heart wasn't so easy to tame.

"Sure" I said with a small smile and his eyes instantly shot up and met mine. After that it was quiet again. I was hyper vigilant of Jared's hand inches away from mine, his body heat was radiating off his skin – it was crazy! How could you feel someone's body heat? How could someone be so hot? Well both temperature and appearance wise.

When the bell rang for the lunch break I snapped my diary shut and quickly started packing my bag when my diary fell on the floor between me and Jared! Jared looked at the diary the same time that I did and I wished for the earth to swallow me whole!

The last page was opened where I had written 'Kim Cameron' like a million times! Why do such things always happen to me?! I looked up at Jared from the corner of my eye, hoping he was not angry or anything.

Much to my surprise his lips were curled up in a smile as he dreamily looked my diary. Before I could pick up my diary Jared bent down to pick it up for me and as he did he got a closer look to what was written on the page and I just froze there dumbly!

Well, what could I have said to make the situation any less awkward? If I had opened my mouth then things would have definitely got more awkward so I rather stayed quiet and just looked at Jared from under my lashes.

God please strike me dead this instant!

Jared Cameron of all people had seen the most private page of my diary and he was just staring at it with a smile tucked on his lips.

Just when I started to drop my gaze from Jared's face his eyes held mine, once again in the most lovable way possible. "I like the sound of it" Jared said as he returned me my diary and my mouth hung open at his words and my heart started beating faster.

Did he mean the sound of 'Kim Cameron'? No, he could have never meant _that_! I took my dairy from his hand and shoved it in my bag before getting up from my seat and keeping my eyes on my feet.

I slowly started to walk away from Jared. Why would he like to have lunch with me now? I must have offended him or at least gave him a good laugh. I truly wished for the earth to swallow me up whole right this second but that was not happening!

Rather I felt a very warm hand on my hand which made me stop dead in my tracks right outside the class. I turned around, humiliated by myself, and did not even look up since I knew who held my hand.

As soon as I turned around the hand dropped from my hand and a finger that was tucked under my chin lifted my head slowly, but I kept my eyes to my feet. "What are you thinking?" Jared sounded worried, "I am sorry to offend you" I mumbled, "Offend me? How?" he was curious now, so I looked at him.

I was sure he had seen what was written on my diary. "For the –" I could not even bring myself to complete the sentence, "I distinctly remember saying, only a few minutes ago, that I liked the sound of it" Jared half smiled, "The sound of?" I asked dumbly, "Kim Cameron" sweet heavens! The sound of it from Jared's mouth made me ecstatic, my heart started pounding again and I felt dizzy, but in a good way.

"Are you making fun of me?" I mumbled, suddenly I was back into reality. Jared's grin turned into a frown and then his eyes were cold – angry, "Why would you think that?" he sounded – offended. "It does not make sense, you liking the sound of _it_ " I explained myself with a shrug, "Oh Kim! If only you knew how much that makes sense" Jared chuckled as if remembering something very important, "What do you mean?" I could not help but ask, "I do not just like the sound of Kim Cameron, I actually love it, now you can think whatever you want but it cannot change the truth" his eyes were soft again as they bore into mine.

Somehow I believed every word he said, all my worries of him making fun of me and what not disappeared in that very moment and all I could think of was how Jared spoke 'Kim Cameron.'

For me the moment froze then and there, it was no one but Jared and me in the very moment and I never wished it to end.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Sorry for such a late update, I was busy somewhere so I could not update. Next update would be after 15th August guys, I am so sorry after that I will try to be regular once again, please support me on this. If you like the story fit the Follow and Favourite button and please, PLEASE leave a review! I would be waiting.**

 **-JT**


	6. English Class

**Chapter 6**

I was fiddling with my pen as I sat in the English class the next morning. Mrs. Mills was distributing our assignments back and Jared was smiling like an idiot as he kept staring at me. I bit my lower lip nervously as Mrs. Mills once again walked past me.

What if Jared had not submitted my assignment? Well it did not matter I had lost hope the moment my assignment was torn into pieces. I sighed and dropped my head in my hands. "Kim" Jared said politely, I looked at him without lifting my head from my hands. "Why are you so tensed?" Jared looked at me curiously, "I don't know what to expect from my assignment" I told him honestly as I closed my eyes once again.

"Expect an A" Jared spoke confidently which made me look at him again but I did not spoke a word. "Honestly Kim, why don't you trust me?" Jared huffed which made me giggle, how could I ever tell him that I trust him with my life? "I trust you" I tried to sound enthusiastic but I failed miserably.

"Ms. Connweller" my head instantly shot up when Mrs. Mills called my name. She had a smile on her face when she handed me my assignment, "You did great" she complimented me before moving past me. I stared after her in disbelief and then finally looked at my assignment and my mouth dropped. 'A+' I looked at Jared who was smiling like an idiot again but this time he was looking ahead instead of looking at me. The assignment was not torn, it was perfectly neat, printed on new stack of sheets.

I started reading my assignment, and it was _my_ assignment. Not a single word was changed, everything was perfect. I looked at Jared again, he had went out of his way to do this assignment again for me.

It did not matter if he did it for everyone or just me, he was a golden boy at heart and realizing this made me fall for him all over again and I had a feeling that this time he would be there to catch me.

Before I could even thank Jared Mrs. Mills called everyone's attention and started the class. I kept looking at Jared and I probably looked at him the way he looked at me. Our eyes met only once during the whole class and that was when we both blushed and looked away. Oh how would I ever be able to thank him enough for this?

When the class ended Jared packed his bag before me and started walking out of the class to the cafeteria. I quickly packed my bag and rushed after him as fast as I could. Once outside the class I called his name "Jared" his name alone and that too spoken by myself bought butterflies in my stomach.

Jared stopped and turned around, I quickly walked up to him as he was grinning. Without a second thought I wrapped my arms around his neck and closed my eyes as I rested my head on my arms. In a few seconds his arms wrapped around my waist and I knew he felt what I felt too – there was a spark, no not just a spark – there were fireworks, my mind went blank but I somehow collected myself and pulled back with a shy smile on my face.

When I saw Jared was smiling too, I relaxed a bit. "Thank you" I told him happily, "For what?" he was confused, "For submitting my assignment" and for hugging me back I added mentally. "Please don't say thank you for that" Jared told me meaningfully, "Then what should I do to thank you?" I asked, he blushed and looked down as he chuckled and then spoke "I will tell you some other day, for now if you would like to join me for lunch that would be great" "Sure" I replied immediately.

After we took our lunch and Jared guided me to an empty table I realized Lily must be waiting for me. I turned around to saw Lily gawking us with a huge smirk on her face, I mentally face palmed myself and groaned in a very low voice. Jared instantly followed my gaze and saw Lily which somehow made him laugh wholeheartedly but thanks to his laugh at least Lily looked away. "Is your friend going to kill me for stealing you today?" Jared mocked, "No, she will survive" I murmured.

Lily was not like me, she had friends besides me and she would probably sit with them today. I was happy that she was not a loner like me, I would have felt too guilty if I had left her alone today.

"Where are your friends?" I asked Jared after a while, "You mean Paul?" he questioned back with a smirk, I distinctly remember him having friends besides Paul but I went with it. "Yeah" I answered, "Well he did not came to school today" Jared informed me, he was no longer smirking. "Okay" I said slowly, maybe he did not wanted to let out any more information so I let it go.

I noticed that while Jared had his plate full of food for two people and had already finished half of it, I had not even touched my food so I picked up the apple and took a tiny bite of it and chewed. "So does this officially make us friends?" Jared asked hopefully, "I guess so, if you want to" I was taken aback by his question, "I would want nothing more than to be your friend" Jared started but then corrected himself by saying "wait – that is not true, I would love to be more than just friends with you but I guess being friends is a start right?" I was utterly and totally confused and shocked.

More than friends?! Friends?! What was going on? I blinked my eyes rapidly a few times as I tried to wrap my head around what he just said! "Right" I said in a low voice, "Would you ever want to be more than that?" Jared leant forward towards me as his gaze held mine, I blushed and looked down, and could I just say yes like that? Well I have been dreaming for it to happen but I never thought it would actually happen!

"You don't have to answer now" Jared started but I cut him in the middle of his speech "Yes" I replied shyly, "Yes as in you would want to be more than that or yes you don't want to answer that?" either he was trying to get me to speak up my feelings or he was actually clueless, either way it was making me blush.

"The first one" I was not sure if Jared heard it or not but apparently he did. "Good, because I want that too but I am willing to wait" he replied honestly. Really? Would he wait for me or would he get bored and move on? I guess we will see that in due time.

"So do you always speak this less or is it because I am making you uncomfortable? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable" Jared babbled and I looked up to him with my brows creased together, "Jared, you are not making me uncomfortable and I generally don't speak much" I told him truthfully. "Why?" Jared frowned, "Why do you want me to speak more?" I chuckled, "Because I would love to listen to your voice" Jared sighed dreamily and once again I could help but blush again – cheesy Jared.

"What do you want me speak?" I asked him ignoring his previous words, "Anything really, tell me about yourself" he said, "Well – I um—"I thought for a moment, "What is your favourite colour?" Jared tried to make it easy for me, "White, what about you?" I asked, "Brown" Jared said that as if remembering some private joke, "That is an interesting choice" I remarked, "I know most people don't like brown" he chuckled, "No, I think brown is an underrated colour" I told him the truth.

"You think so?" Jared asked with a grin, "Yeah" I nodded. "What are your hobbies?" Jared asked me curiously, "I like spending time outside, reading, listening to music and stuff like that" I told him as I looked down at the table. I know I was boring, I just wished Jared would not know about it. "You like spending time outside?" Jared sounded happy but I did not look up and just gave him a single nod, "So can we – maybe go to the beach – sometime?" my heart picked up pace once again. Was this going to be a date? I bit my lower lip to hide my grin when I looked up at Jared who was looking extremely nervous.

"Sure, when?" I asked calmly, but I only knew how fast my heart was beating. "Today? After school?" Jared asked nervously. "Sure" I replied with a smile and then looked down again. "I will pick you up" Jared offered, "Oh that is not necessary, my home isn't far from the beach, I will walk there" I told Jared as I looked up at him. He looked as if I had rejected him rather than his offer of driving me to the beach, which was completely unnecessary and besides I would have to explain my mom everything and she would think it is a date, which it probably is not and it will be a mess.

"We will meet there at 5 pm" I said slowly, "Sounds great" Jared's grin reappeared which relaxed me. After making our plans we talked for another 10 minutes until the bell rang and it was time for the next class. I looked over to Lily who, much to my joy, was sitting with her other friends and was having fun. "Can I walk with you to your next class?" Jared broke my trance, "Sure" I smiled looking at him and we both got up from our seats to dump the trays and then walked to our class.

People still stared at us when we walked together which always made me look over at Jared. I always hoped that he would feel ashamed of walking with me but it seemed like he did not even bothered about other people. He was always very comfortable walking with me and not just that, he seemed _proud_. It made no sense to me, he was – beyond perfect and well I was just – me, we were no match, how could he even stand me? It would probably last for a little while longer only so I decided to enjoy every second of it while it lasted.

Will it break my heart when it ends? Yes, hell it would crush it into millions of pieces, but would I give up these perfect moments just to not get hurt in the end? No, I would trade my soul if I got to stay with Jared forever and I was not even bluffing. Only if he loved me the way I loved him, it would be perfect. I sighed and looked at my feet and that was when Jared spoke, "I noticed that you sigh a lot, a penny for your thought?" I looked up at him and he was looking down at me.

"It is nothing" I lied convincingly but somehow he knew me better. "Kim, you can share anything with me, I promise I will understand you as best as I can" he promised. Oh Jared, how can I ever tell you that I am in love with you? "Maybe some other time" I said, I did not wanted to lie to him but I could not tell him the truth either at least not now.

Before he could speak any further we were already outside our class. "Okay" Jared mumbled as we walked to our seat together. I did not like seeing him like that and especially when I knew it was because of me! It was unbearable to sit next to Jared, who was upset and I could do nothing to comfort him. I looked up to Jared from under my eyelashes and saw him already looking down at me. Somehow I had the perfect timing with him, always! My heart skipped a beat as we looked into each other's eyes and then I blushed and looked away but he kept looking at me – like always!

I got the feeling, although I had no idea how true it would be, that Jared would never get tired of looking at me the way he looks at me now. It might not make sense if I spoke it out loud to anyone but to me it made sense and it was more than enough for me.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Sorry for another late update, I was waiting to get some reviews on my last updates which I sadly did not get. So I am hoping that I would get some reviews on this one and I will update the next chapter soon after that! Hit the Follow and Favourite button if you like my story and please don't forget to review, it would mean the world to me! :D Thank you :D**

 **-JT**


	7. Date?

**Chapter 7**

At 4:45 pm I walked out of my house to go to the beach where I was supposed to meet Jared. I have been waiting for this since forever and it was finally going to come true! I had took a shower and got in my perfectly fitted V neck black T-shirt that was quarter sleeves and demine blue jeans with black sneakers, my hair were as usually left open and I put on no make-up.

When I reached the beach I saw Jared standing near his car, his arms crossed over his chest. Although it was getting chiller day by day, Jared only wore a thin T shirt and khaki pants with sneakers. I shuddered at how cold it must be for him, but he did not seem to mind it at all!

When Jared saw me, a smile automatically grew on his face which in return made me smile. I walked up to him and while I was expecting a formal handshake or an awkward hello, Jared wrapped his arms around me and my heart started beating frantically! I slowly wrapped my arms around his torso as well and it felt as if the hug lasted forever! Well it did actually lasted for about 7 seconds, after which Jared breathed a "Hello" to me with a grin. I blushed and looked down as I replied a "Hey."

He turned to his car as if he remembered something and then reached out for something that was waiting on his seat. When he turned to me I saw five red Gerber Daisy flowers in his hand, they were beautiful! "These are for you" he told me as he offered me to take the flowers.

I took the beautiful flowers and admired them a moment before my eyes met Jared's and I told him "Thank you so much, these are beautiful" "Not half as beautiful as you" he replied making me blush a deep shade of red.

"Now, would you like to go out for a coffee or do you want to stay here?" Jared asked breaking the silence, I looked up to him and replied "Anything that you like" "No Kim, you are going to decided" he shook his head. "Well – then coffee it is then" I replied in a low voice.

He opened the passenger's door for me and I got inside, he closed it behind me and then jogged to the driver's seat and got inside. Jared's car smelled exactly like him, it was heavenly!

I kept the flowers on my lap but never took my hands off them. "I never got the chance to thank you enough for doing my assignment over again" I said after a long moment of silence. "You thanked me in the best way I could expect" Jared replied shaking his head. "When did you get time to do your assignment?" I had to ask this since forever! "I – managed" he said looking straight ahead, "How?" I pressed further, "I don't need much sleep, so I stayed up late" he replied after a while. "you don't need much sleep?" I was confused by this.

"I can go days without sleeping" Jared answered, "The most I can go without sleeping is 2 days" I mumbled, "Have you actually tried to not sleep for 2 days?" Jared was surprised, "Yes, but only because I had to stay up" I told him as I nodded my head. "Why did you have to stay up?" he asked curiously.

I remembered that time vividly, "We went on a camping trip, for 3 days and my sister Cami is really scared of insects, she did not sleep for the whole night those two days and kept me up with her as well, she was scared so I just could not sleep while she cried the whole night" I chuckled remembering how Cami kept throwing tantrums for the whole night!

"Did you not fell asleep the following mornings?" Jared was still curious, "We had many activities to do in the morning, I could not sleep but when we got back home, I had a fever from the exertion" I answered truthfully. "Do not ever try to go without sleep for even a single day" Jared looked at me while speaking. "How long can you go without sleeping?" I asked, my turn now!

"A week" he said looking away again, "A week?!" being shocked at his answer was an understatement. "Yes" he confirmed that I heard it right. "And you don't fall ill after that?" I asked curiously, "No" Jared chuckled. "How?" I was barely audible to myself but Jared somehow heard me.

"Kim I want to tell you everything, I really do but I am not sure if it is the right time, but if you keep asking me questions I will _have_ to tell you" Jared looked sad again. "You will have to? You can deny to answer my questions if I am being too nosy" I told him as my eyes dropped from his face. "You don't get it Kim, I cannot deny you anything, I will always give you what you want, no matter what you ask for" Jared sounded so sincere when he spoke those words but I could not get myself to look at his face.

"Why?" was all I could ask, why could he not deny me anything? Why would he give me whatever I wanted? "This is so frustrating!" Jared sounded so – annoyed. I looked up at him, his whole body was shaking terribly, his features were masked by anger, frustration, pain, and his eyes were cold as he looked straight ahead. "Jared are you okay?" I asked as I kept my hand on his hand, which was on the steering wheel. His hand was burning, like he has a fever! He should have taken rest if he had fever!

Much to my surprise his body stopped shaking immediately and he took a deep breathe to compose his face once again. "Yes I am okay" Jared was calm again and his smile re appeared so I began to take my hand off his hand, "No" he protested, I stopped immediately and kept my hand back on his. "Jared do you have a fever?" I was concerned for him. I remember him having temperature before as well, "No" Jared chuckled as he answered, "No, you do have a fever, did you go to a doctor?" I had to ask.

"Kim, seriously I am fine" he protested from between his lips and I immediately took my hand off his. If he could not even tell the truth about him having a fever – which was so evident, then I don't know how many lies he could just speak.

When Jared stopped the car in front of a coffee café, I did not even waited for him to come and open my door. I got out before him and stood there, my back facing him. "Are you mad at me?" Jared asked poking me on my arm with his index finger. "No" I mumbled, "Kim" he sighed, "What?" I asked still not looking at him, "Please don't be mad at me" he begged and then I looked at him.

Jared was looking at his feet, he looked extremely sad and I did not liked seeing him like that. "I just don't want you to lie to me" I explained him, "Trust me, I want to tell you everything and I will tell you everything" Jared started, "Is this a secret or something?" I had to ask, "Yes and my life depends on it" Jared chuckled, what?! Was he in trouble?! "Jared are you in some kind of trouble?" I could not help but ask. "No, I am not in any trouble" he told me truthfully.

Before I could ask any further questions, he spoke again "Let's get inside first" and I nodded. While I held the flowers close to my chest, clenching on them with both my hands, Jared walked close by me.

The inside of the coffee café was warm and bright, there were too many people, and we could spot only two empty tables. The waiter greeted us and walked us to the table for two in the corner of the café. Jared pulled out the chair for me and I got in, he sat in front of me with a small smile on his face. I kept the flowers on the circular table and dropped my hands on my lap. The waiter got us a menu and then disappeared to attend the other costumer.

"What would you like to have?" Jared asked me, I examined the menu for a moment but ended up saying the same thing I always ordered "A cappuccino" Jared smiled at me and then called the waiter, who appeared in a few moments to take our order. "Two cappuccino please" Jared ordered, "Would you like something to eat with it?" the waiter asked looking at me and then at Jared.

Jared looked at me, "Nothing for me, thank you" I told him, "Just the coffee then" Jared told the waiter with a smile. "Okay, let me know if you change your mind" the waiter said before disappearing.

I spoke in a low voice "Jared I am really concerned about you" "Don't be, I am fine, and once you know about it you will definitely believe me" Jared comforted me, but I was not able to accept the fact that he was okay despite the fact that his life depended on some kind of secret! "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" I told him, after all I was just his friend.

"I want to tell you about it Kim, I just have to be sure that you will not run away from me after you hear about it, because honestly I cannot think of a way to live without you now" and the last part made my heart do summersaults, I was at loss of words.

"You know" Jared started as he leaned forward towards me, and I copied his actions and leaned forward towards him. "I can hear each time you heart picks up pace" and now my heart went frantic. He straightened up as the waiter approached us while I was in the same position for another moment looking extremely dumb.

I straightened up and the waiter placed our coffee in front of us and then mumbled something before disappearing. Jared gestured me to have my coffee, I added a little sugar and then stirred my coffee while he did the same for his coffee. How could he hear my heart beats? What did he mean?!

Here I was losing my mind on what he had just told me and there he was sitting, enjoying his coffee!

"Go on ask me the question" Jared tried not to laugh at my expressions but he was failing miserably. "How can you hear my heart beats?" I was barely audible, my heart was still beating frantically. "I can hear every heart beating in this room, I can hear what they are talking about" he said the last line as he jerked his head in the direction of a couple was sitting in the other corner of the room.

"Is this the part of the secret?" I asked taking another sip of my coffee, "Yes" Jared answered looking into my eyes. "Jared I will never run away from you but you can make sure of it in your own ways" I promised him, "I am afraid to lose you" Jared confessed, how was he saying everything that I felt?!

"Trust me I am afraid to lose you too" I confessed looking at my coffee. "I will tell you everything after we get back to the first beach, or maybe if we meet tomorrow morning, I can steal you for the day and then tell you everything" Jared said, I looked up at him immediately.

Tomorrow was Saturday and I was free, maybe I could spend my day with him tomorrow and get some answers, maybe then I would feel better after actually knowing if Jared was safe or not. "Okay we can meet tomorrow morning" I agreed and Jared grinned, making me grin as well.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Thank you for your reviews, they mean the world to me, you people really make my day! I want to let you all know that I will be ending this story after Jared tells Kim his secret and they get in a relationship, because I don't want to put in the Bella and Jacob part in my story (Which I will have to since I want to follow the actual timeline). Thank you for supporting me, please leave a review and let me know your opinion on the story also hit the Follow and Favourite button if you like my story. Thanks once again! :D**

 **-JT**


	8. Secrets

**Chapter 8**

I kept tossing and turning in my bed for almost the whole night. It was impossible to sleep after Jared had asked me to meet him tomorrow morning – or in this case today morning. Well as if it was not enough to keep me awake he had also told me that he'd be telling me his secret on which his life depended!

I never noticed when I fell asleep or what my last thought was before I had finally fallen asleep but when I woke up the sun was piercing through my window. I quickly turned to the other side of the bed to check the clock. It was 10 am already and I was running late! I had to meet Jared at 11 am and I did not wanted to be late.

So I did what I was best in doing. As I brushed my teeth I pulled out my outfit for the day. Since I was going out with Jared I had to look absolutely perfect! I took my clothes with me to the bathroom and locked the door. I placed my clothes on the cloth rack and quickly rinsed my mouth before stripping myself naked and getting in the shower.

It was a quick shower since I had no time but then I finally decided to wash my hair too! Just when I was massaging the shampoo in my scalp I regretted the idea of washing my hair because now I will also have to dry them! I cursed under my breath and then sped up my work, there was no time to spare!

Finally when I was done I wrapped a towel around my head and then towel dried my body. I got in my clothes quickly. My outfit of the day was black legging and a grey quarter sleeves tunic top with black horizontal stripes on it. I ran to my bedroom and removed my towel from my head.

I sat in front of my vanity table and glanced towards the clock, 10:40 am! Maybe I will just have to go out with wet hair. What if I catch cold? I quickly plugged in my hairdryer and dried my hair a little, only enough to not catch cold since there was no time to dry them properly. I combed my hair and then ran to the closet to get my shoes. I decided to wear my black ankle length sneakers, it was comfortable and stylish.

It was already 10:55 am by the time I was ready so I grabbed my phone and ran downstairs.

"Mom I am late, I am going" I shouted as I was about to make my exit. "Kim wait!" my mom shouted back and I stopped dead in my tracks. "At least eat something honey, Jared can wait for 15 minutes" Mom told me as she came by my side. "Mom, I am already late" I argued, "Okay but at least have a glass of milk, you are not leaving this house empty stomach" she shook her head. I sighed and followed her to the kitchen.

She poured me a glass of milk and I gulped it down in one breathe. "Kim, slow down honey" she said in an urgency but I was done before she could even complete her sentence. I put the glass on the kitchen counter and hugged her before leaving. "See you mom" and with that I was out of the kitchen and out of the house.

I practically jogged to the beach where we were going to meet but Jared was nowhere to be seen. I pulled out my phone to check the time. '11:16' maybe he left thinking I stood him up or maybe he stood me up. Should I wait? Should I call him? What if he is busy?

I finally decided to wait till 11:20 before making a call, so if he thinks I had stood him up he would know that I was only 16 minutes late and if he stood me up then – well we will see about that later. I sat down on the wet wooden log near the water and watched as the waves clashed with the stones and cliffs. I felt anxious as I waited for the four dreadful minutes to pass.

I kept glancing at the phone, 11:17

11:18

11:19

And then finally 11:20!

Without a second thought I dialled his number and waited. Jared did not pick up my call and after the ring it went to his voicemail. I heard his angelic voice, "Hey, I am sorry I could not pick your call because I am busy or sleeping or whatever, leave me a message" and then I hung up. I decided to wait for two more minutes before calling him again but rather I ended up calling him just after a minute.

Jared picked up the phone this time and he was panting. "Hey Kim, I am so sorry I am running late" he said, "It's okay, are you running?" I asked dumbly, "Yes, I am running to you" he answered and I could picture him grinning as he said that.

Just like that my heart did a summersault. I wondered if Jared could hear that over the phone and I wished he could not. "I will be there in 2 minutes okay?" he said, "Okay" I mumbled and then he hung up the phone.

I waited for Jared to show up while I watched the water again. It was fascinating how every time the water touched the shore it created new patterns on the sand. How could must that water be in this temperature? I was tempted to touch the water but I resisted myself. I felt a cool breeze hit me and I shuddered.

The temperature was dropping each day and today it was cold. I should have worn a jacket but I was in a hurry. As another breeze hit me I shuddered again. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to warm myself but in vain.

A few seconds later I felt a pair of warm arms wrap around my shoulder and I jumped. When I turned around I saw it was none other than Jared who was trying so hard to hide his smirk. "I am sorry I did not mean to startle you" he apologized, but I knew him better, he did that on purpose.

He did not took his arms off my shoulder even when I had turned around to face him. I knew exactly what was coming next. In another second he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to his body. This was not the awkward side hug – it was the full body contact, romantic hug I have always dreamt of! And then I noticed Jared was shirtless, I had just hugged a shirtless Jared! Could my heart beat any faster? Nope.

His heat comforted me and he held me like that for a very long time, probably a minute! "You are freezing" he noticed, "Yeah I forgot my jacket" I mumbled as I pressed my cheek against his chest and eased in his grip, he also eased up. "Why do you need a jacket when you can have a personal heater?" he mocked and I could not help but laugh.

He was ridiculously hot both body wise and temperature wise. We dropped our hands slowly and then took one step away from each other and I immediately craved for his touch again. "C'mon let's go" Jared said as he offered me his hand. I took his hand immediately and then asked him "Where are we going?" "For a walk" he replied and I followed him like a lost puppy.

After two minutes Jared spoke again, "Kim, you wanted to know my secret right?" he asked hopefully and I nodded. "How long have you been at La Push?" he confused me, what did that have to do with his secret? "Since I was a baby" I replied still confused. He sighed as he struggled to find the words and I could not help but give his hand a gentle squeeze.

Jared's eyes shot up immediately and he gave me a weak smile before he looked down and asked me another question "Do you know the Quileute legends?" "Yes but not completely" I told him honestly.

"Well, what do you know?" he asked, still not looking at me. "I know that it is believed that people of the Quileute tribe are considered to be the descendants of the wolves and are their brothers still. It is against the tribal law to kill them" I choose every word carefully since I knew Jared belong to that tribe and I did not wanted to offend him in anyway.

"You are right" he mumbled, I mentally sighed of relief at the fact I had not said anything nonsense. "What do the legends have to do with your secret?" I could not make sense of it. Jared stopped dead in his tracks and since I was holding his hand I stopped too. I realized we had walked into the forest area now but we were not deep inside the forest.

Jared was still not looking at me, he kept his gaze to his feet so I turned to face him and then with my free hand I touched his perfect face and then finally cupped his cheek. Slowly at first and then in an urgency, Jared's eyes met mine. "Kim" he started "The legends are true" and I immediately dropped my hand, I pulled away my hand from his hand.

Was he making fun of me? Did he wanted to make fun of me all this while? Was this the reason he became my friend? Without a word I turned away from him, "Kim" he cried and it broke my heart to hear his voice like that but I did not turn around. "Kim" this time he held my hand and twirled me around but I did not look at him.

"Say something please" Jared begged but I remained quiet. How could he make fun of me like that? I don't know for how long we stood like that – him trying to catch my gaze and me looking at my feet.

Finally Jared let go of my hand and he took a good 10 steps back before I noticed his legs shaking terribly, I looked up to see him and realized his whole body was shaking terribly and before my eyes could register Jared somehow turned into a gigantic wolf!

The wolf had short, but thick, brown fur. It was almost as gigantic as a horse, and there were dark grey fur around his eyes that resembled a mask. I realized I had stopped breathing for a while and then my breathing increased rapidly. I saw shreds of Jared's clothes lying around the wolf who then turned around and disappeared into the forest faster than my eyes could register.

The only sign that there was a wolf here who ran away at the speed of light was the cold breeze that his sudden swiftness and speed has left behind not just making me shudder but also making the leaves and the grass shudder.

I dropped to my knees right on the forest floor and stared right where the wolf had disappeared.

Jared was not lying or making fun of me, he was telling the truth and this would have been so difficult for him. I had just made him run away to god knows where and what was I going to say where had he disappeared? I could never tell anyone about Jared! I had to protect his secret, but how am I supposed to find him alone when I have never been in the forest before?

I sighed and got up from my place, it was my mistake and I was going to set things right.

I was not sure where I was going or if I would even find some trail that Jared would have left behind but I had to do _something_! But just when I had taken two steps forward I heard the bushes move and I froze at my place. "Jared?" I managed to whisper, was he trying to scare me?

"Jared if this is you please come out, this is not funny" I felt dumb talking to myself. Who came out of the bushes was not someone I had expected.

"Kim are you okay?" Paul was concerned about me? "Yes" I replied as I looked past him, did he know about Jared's secret? "Why are you in the woods?" I asked trying to sound calm, "Jared is fine, let me get you to Emily's place" Paul told me clearing ignoring the question. "Where is Jared?" I practically begged him for answers.

"He needs to calm down, let me just get you to Emily's place" Paul said calmly. "Who is Emily?" where was Jared? "Emily is Sam's fiancée" Paul told me. "I want to see Jared" I demanded, "It is not safe here in woods, let me just get you to Emily's place and by that time Sam will bring Jared to you" Paul reasoned with me and I could not help but agree. I was not getting anywhere like this maybe if I do go to Emily's house Jared would come to me sooner.

Paul walked me out of the woods and then led to Emily's house which was not far from the beach. I remembered Emily now that I looked at her small yet beautiful house. She was the girl who got mauled by a bear a few months ago.

"Let's go inside" Paul said as he saw me waiting on the front poach steps of Emily's house. Just like that without even knocking Paul entered Emily's house and I followed him. "Emily" he called out, "In here" a melodic voice came from the kitchen, I could smell cookies being baked and then I saw Paul's grin as he smelled them too.

He jogged to the kitchen and I followed him. I saw a beautiful young woman place a tray on the small wooden dining table. Paul immediately picked up four cookies and started stuffing his mouth with them when Emily noticed me awkwardly standing in the doorway.

She turned around me in a way that only now I could see her full face and I saw those scars that everyone talked about but yet she was so beautiful that it would break any girl's self-esteem. "Are you Kim?" she asked me with a small smile and I nodded with an identical smile. "It's so good to finally meet you" she said as she walked around the table to me and then gave me a small gentle hug, "It's nice to meet you too" I told her as we dropped our hands.

"Jared has told me so much about you, it is like I already know you" Emily grinned and I could not help but grin back. So Jared has talked about me? Even the possibility of that set my heartbeats faster but then my heart sank to my stomach and my grin disappeared as I looked behind me. Why hasn't Jared came yet?

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Thank you for your immense support, it means the world to me! I hope you guys are liking the story, please leave a review to let me know and hit the Follow and Favourite button if you like my story. Thank you :D**

 **-JT**


	9. Answers

**Chapter 9**

Emily sat with me on the couch while we waited for Sam and Jared to show up. She kept telling me that everything will be alright and that I should give Jared a chance to explain. This was not it, she was extremely worried that if I had been hurt but I told her I was not hurt. That was when she told me her's and Sam's love story.

I was about to judge her for coming between Leah and Sam but then I looked at her face and realized she was still guilty about it but it was not in her or Sam's hand. She told me about imprinting which made it easier to understand their situation. What shocked me was that the scars on her face, neck and hand were given to her by none other than her soul mate – Sam.

"I knew what I was doing, I had it coming" she chuckled as she looked at her scarred hand. "I don't blame Sam, never in a million years could I blame him. I know he is guilty of this but it was not his fault, he was new to this and despite of the fact that I already knew, I pushed him over the edge and this was totally unintentional. He does not have to feel guilty about it but well he does and it hurts me to see him in pain" Emily continued and the love I felt between them somehow made me envious. I wanted a love like they shared, only I wanted it from Jared.

"I know he has not forgiven himself but I hope one day he would and not just about this but also about breaking Leah's heart. In fact, she deserves so much more, she is my sister and I can never think of hurting her like that" Emily was so compassionate, it made me respect her even more. She took care of everyone and she totally deserved a guy like Sam who could take care of her.

"I am sure everything would fall into place and everything would get alright very soon" was all I could say and somehow Emily looked as if I had actually comforted her – she gave me a smile and I smiled back.

A few seconds later the front door opened again and we both stood up immediately. There was a tall, muscular guy who came through the door first and Emily automatically moved towards him. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her scarred face over and over again, Emily's smile only grew which made me smile too.

"Hello Kim" Sam greeted me while he still had his arms around Emily, "Hello" I mumbled as I looked at him with a smile. "I hope you are not hurt?" Sam asked and I shook my head to which he gave me a meaningful smile.

My eyes turned to the doorway again and I saw the face I had been waiting to see since forever!

Jared was standing there in a pair of Khaki shorts and black sneakers, I wonder where he got these from since his clothes were in pieces. He was standing in the doorway, looking at his feet. I walked up to him and stood right in front of him.

Jared slowly looked up to me and then looked down again. "Jared can we talk?" I asked him in a low voice, "Here or outside?" he mumbled, I looked at Sam and Emily but they had already disappeared "Outside" I mumbled back.

Jared made way for me to walk out and I did, he followed me hot on my heels. "Where did you run away?" I asked once we were away from Emily's house, "I thought you were scared of me so I –" Jared started but I cut him in the mid-sentence "First, I thought you were making fun of me when you said all that, I mean c'mon how can a person really believe in supernatural world? And second, had a person been scared, what you did would have definitely give the person a heart attack" I almost shouted.

"Why on earth would I ever make fun of you Kim?" Jared's voice rose as well and he looked frustrated. "I don't know, maybe because you never noticed me before and suddenly you are interested in me" I could not keep my voice down, I was frustrated too!

We both had stopped and we were standing face to face, arguing. "Can you not just accept the fact that I am genuinely interested in knowing you?" Jared was getting more frustrated. "No, I am sorry I cannot, why would _you_ be interested in _me_?" I questioned back, well it was true – he was perfect and I was nothing. "What do you mean by that?" now I had made him really angry because he had started to tremble.

"You are perfect and I am – just me – I am nothing" my voice was brittle, "What do you mean you are just you? You are nothing? Kim you are everything to me – you are you and that is perfect, I am the lucky one to have you in my life, and I am sorry if you don't see yourself clearly but that would not change the fact that you are perfect" Jared was as stubborn as ever. "I bet when you are going to imprint on someone, all this would change" I mumbled looking away.

Jared tucked his finger under my chin and made me look into his eyes while his face came closer to mine. "Oh, I already have" he said before his lips covered the distance to my lips and then there were fireworks, my mind went blank while my heart betrayed me and started pounding faster than ever! My right leg popped up a little like in the romantic movies and it felt so right – it felt perfect. Jared's lips moved in perfect sync with my lips and I felt dazzled.

When the kiss broke after a few seconds I looked at him in surprise but he was smirking. Jared Cameron had kissed me?! JARED CAMERON HAD KISSED ME! How come all my wishes were being granted? Then it hit me again – he said "I already have" what did that mean? "Say something" Jared begged as his smirk disappeared. I tore my gaze from his face when I felt the heat rise up to my face.

"You said you have already imprinted, on whom?" I was barely audible to myself but I knew Jared heard it, "First I want to know did Emily tell you about imprinting?" Jared questioned back and I gave a single nod. "Do you know what it means?" he asked hopefully, "It's like finding a soul mate" I was still unsure of what to say.

"Just so you know, we only imprint once and it is not in our hands on whom we imprint" Jared explained me and I gave him a nod as I finally looked up at him. He took a deep breathe before finally answering my question "I have imprinted on you Kim" and my mind went blank again, and my heart started pounding again!

I could not find myself to speak anything and I just stood there watching his face turn from anxious to worry. Me?! Really?! "I am your soul mate?" I questioned in disbelief, "Honestly Kim, what else would you be?" Jared chuckled. Jared's soul mate? Me? Wait, am I really going to marry him one day? A shy smile crept its way on my lips.

"Say something" Jared begged again, "I am trying to wrap my mind around it" I told him honestly, "Well then let me just give you something more to wrap your mind around" Jared smirked and I nodded my head. "You have already seen my transformation, and you already know that the legends are true and that I am a shape shifter" I nodded once again. "Do you know have any questions?" he creased his brows together, "I know that you are impossibly fast, what else can you do?" I started from the basics.

"Superhuman speed, superhuman strength, delayed aging, we heal _very_ fast – it comes handy, and our body temperature is set on 108 F, which is why you always feel like I have a fever" Jared went on to tell me everything about shape shifters from their abilities to senses to pack behaviour and I had to admit that it was fascination, some things did shock me every now and then but it was not something I could not handle.

He explained imprinting to me again, "It is not like love at first sight, it is more like the gravity moves suddenly and it is her or in my case – it is you that is holding me to the ground, everything else is secondary now, all my relations, needs, everything. I will be whatever you want me to be – a friend, a protector, a lover" the way Jared spoke about it made me feel that imprinting was much more intimate phenomenon than I was understanding. "Kim you mean the world to me and this is not just some cheesy line I am saying to impress you, it is much more than that – it is basically what my life is now – it is about you" that sent my heart pounding again.

"And I believe you return my feelings too, at least on some basic level" Jared smirked and I realized that he could hear my heartbeats! "On some basic level? You have no idea what you mean to me" I chuckled as I shook my head. "Enlighten me then" Jared challenged as he looked into my eyes and I could not deny him of this, I had to tell him what he meant to me – I was ready to speak and he was ready to hear it.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **Thank you so much for the growing support, I am so happy to read all the reviews :D Please leave your opinion on this chapter too and hit the Favourite and Follow button if you like the story, it would mean a lot to me! Thank you :)**

 **-JT**


	10. Epilouge

**Epilogue**

"I – I am in love with you" I looked at my feet as I spoke those words, it would have been impossible to look into his eyes and speak those words, my voice was a mere whisper and my heart was beating loudly the whole while.

"I fell head over heels for you long before you noticed me" I completed and then looked up to Jared. Jared's eyes were soft, full of affection, his lips were slightly parted and he looked awestruck, "what?" I asked as I chuckled and looked away. "I am just debating how I was so blind?" that made me look at him again. "What do you mean?" I asked a bit puzzled, I was always curious to know what Jared was thinking.

"How did I not notice you before? I am so sorry, I must have hurt you so much" Jared looked genuinely guilty of what he did. I was always upset by the fact that he did not notice me but looking back at it now, I realized that it only happened for good. Had he noticed me before I would never been so clear and sure of my feelings for him.

"I know a way you can make it up to me" I answered with a smirk, "How is that?" Jared was as curious as every. "The list is long" I teased, "From where should I start Miss?" Jared started to play along, "Let me think" I pretended for a while before I bought my lips closer to his and then spoke in a whisper "we can start from this."

Jared's hands cupped my cheeks before he bent down to kiss me passionately, my hands found their way to his muscular chest and I could feel his heartbeats matching the pace of mine.

Finally, when the kiss broke Jared looked into my eyes and spoke "I am in love with you Kim Connweller, and I cannot make speeches to confess my love for you but what I do know is that I need you forever, I need to look at you, I need to hear your voice, but more than that I need to know that you are happy and safe wherever you are. I need you because I love you, I know that you have become the most essential part of my life, in this very limited time you have become a part of my life – the most important part and it is impossible for me to let you go, I don't know if any of this makes sense to you but all I know is that I am in love with you Kim and no one can take that away"

"It makes perfect sense to me" I assured him with a shy smile, and in that moment I did not only look into his eyes and saw the perfect present, the most amazing confession I could have dreamt of but also I saw the beginning of a beautiful relationship and an even more beautiful future.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey Readers,**

 **I am extremely sorry for not updating in such a long while, my laptop broke and then I had my exams, but here it is the final chapter in Jared and Kim's story, I know it is short but as I have mentioned earlier I don't want to dwell into the relationship aspect of their story. Thank you for your support and patience, it meant the world to me! Please leave a review, hit the Follow and Favourite button if you liked my story! I will be back with some more :D**

 **-JT**


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